Waiting for Him (Waiting Series Book 3) (8 page)

Chapter Thirteen

Garrett

     
When I saw Hailey’s name on my cell as the incoming call, I knew something was up. She’s never called me and I only have her phone number because Shelby wanted me to call and let her know when she went into labor.

      “Hello,” I answer quickly.

      “Garrett, Shelby’s in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. Something’s wrong with her or the baby. She started bleeding and it was a lot of blood. It was running down her legs.” Her voice is shaky and panic-laden. I can tell she’s been crying.

      “What hospital are they taking her to?” I ask as I throw my sneakers on and scoop up my car keys from the counter.

      “Boston General.”

      “Okay, I’m leaving now.”

      I barely remember the drive there. I can only hope that I obeyed all the traffic laws and didn’t cause any accidents. My head is in a total fog and it’s as if I can’t think of anything besides Shelby and Liam.
God, please keep them safe.
I pray as I park my car and run to the emergency room entrance. Once I’m inside, I head straight to the receptionist.

      “My fiancé, Shelby Tyler just came here in an ambulance. Can I go in and be with her?” I dropped the word fiancé because I know that it carries more weight than saying baby daddy would.

      “You have to wait out here and I’ll let you know when you can go in or when I have word about how she’s doing.”
Damn.
That’s definitely not the answer I was hoping for. I turn away from the desk and walk toward the waiting area. Surprisingly, there are only a few other people sitting there and one of them is Hailey. She has a tissue clutched in her fist and she’s staring aimlessly at the floor. As I approach her eyes lift to meet mine and I can see a wealth of worry in her beautiful blue gaze.

      “Did they tell you anything?” She quickly asks before I can even say hello. I shake my head.

      “No, she said that I had to wait here. I even lied and said I was her fiancé hoping it would carry some extra weight.” I sit in the vacant chair next to her. “What do you think is going on Hailey? Do you think they’re going to make it through this okay?” My stomach is tied in knots and I’m nauseous with worry. I just want to know that she and Liam are okay.
Oh God, please let them both make it out of this. What if they can only save one of them?
My head is playing devil’s
advocate now, but I know what my answer
would be
. Save Shelby, because without her my life wouldn’t be complete.

      There’s nothing like the possibility of losing someone you love, to give you one hundred percent clarity. I know that I have waffled and warbled over what to do about our relationship, but right now at this moment, I know that she belongs with me forever. If she makes it out of this…
No.
When she makes it out of this, I’m going to do everything I possibly can to win her back. The past four years I’ve been a shell of the man I was when she and I were together and I don’t want to live like that anymore. She has to pull through this. My poor little Liam is at the mercy of everyone else right now. He’s just a passenger in all of this and I pray that he’s a strong little guy. I can’t imagine how horrible it will be if he doesn’t survive. Shelby would never recover and she’d take on all the blame, thinking that she’d done something to cause it.
Please let them both be
okay.

      “I’m not sure, but she was bleeding a lot and that’s never a good thing. There was a lot of blood, Garrett.” She sniffs and dabs at the tears gathering in the corners of her eyes before they can escape down her cheeks. I place my hand on her back to offer her some comfort. I know how close she and Shelby are; they’re more like sisters than just friends.

      “I called Jeff, and he’s jumping on the next available flight.”
Oh yeah, Jeff
. I can’t believe I actually forgot about him with everything that we’ve been dealing with. I wonder if her family has been informed yet.

      “Hailey, have you called her family?”

      “Yes, I just called Greyson, and he’s making the calls to the rest of them. I’m sure they’ll all be here as soon as possible.” We both settle more comfortably into our chairs, lost in our thoughts. It’s only twenty minutes or so later when Greyson and Aiden show up. They’re both wearing basketball shorts and sweaty tee shirts. I can only assume Hailey’s call caught them mid workout. Greyson pulls Hailey into his arms and holds her in a comforting embrace. She looks so tiny compared to his large frame. Shit, he even makes me feel small and I’m bigger than average. Aiden shakes my hand and we exchange very brief pleasantries before he takes over holding Hailey and Greyson shakes my hand.

      Hailey fills them in on what happened and they’re both wearing similar looks of concern. I know they’re twins and they do resemble one another, but not identically. However, their facial expressions are mirror images of each other, it’s kind of eerie to watch.

      “Brennan, Hollis, and Dad will be arriving here as soon as possible. They were all at work when I called them.”

      “I haven’t seen those guys in ages,” Hailey says as she rests her head back against the light green waiting room wall. “I wish it was under better circumstances.” She mutters under her breath.

      After about an hour more of waiting the doctor finally appears in front of us. He’s fairly young looking and extremely tall, standing here in his blue scrubs.

      “I’m Doctor James. Are you all Shelby Tyler’s family?” He glances at us and before I can answer, Greyson takes care of it.

      “Yes, we are. How is she? How are they?” He asks, never taking his eyes off of Doctor James.

      “They’re both going to be fine.” We all breathe a sigh of relief before he continues. “Shelby suffered from placenta previa and I had to remove the baby via an emergency C-section. The baby is in the nursery if you’d like to see him and Shelby is still in recovery. She’ll be placed in a room shortly.”

      “Thank you, doctor,” I say as I hold my hand out to shake his. “I can’t thank you enough for keeping them both safe.”

      “I’m glad it worked out so well.” He humbly replies.

      I leave the room as the rest of them are talking with Doctor James. All I can think about is getting to Liam and finally holding him in my arms. The neonatal unit is on the third floor, so after a brief elevator ride, I’m standing in front of the window to the nursery, wondering which little baby bundle is mine. One of the nurses comes out to the hallway and asks me if I need help.

      “I’m here to see my son. Last name is Tyler.” She smiles at me.

      “Follow me,” She walks back to the doorway she came out of only moments ago. I follow her and mere steps later, I’m standing in front of the bassinet that my son is sleeping in
. He’s so
beautiful.
I’m overcome with emotion so much so, that I’m speechless and a tear streams down my cheek. The nurse must sense my turmoil and she decides to help me out. She picks him up in her arms and turns to me.

      “Would you like to hold your son?” I can only nod as I bend down and curve both of my arms to receive the single most precious bundle they’ve ever held. I can see his resemblance to Shelby in the full pink pout of his little rosebud lips and the curve of his brow. When he opens his eyes and looks up at me in that unfocused way that newborn babies do, I can see his resemblance to me. His eyes and nose are similar in shape to mine and I know at this moment, without a doubt, that he really is my son. I smile down at him,
at my son,
and nuzzle his blonde peach fuzz-covered head. Having Liam in my arms gives me the most euphoric feeling I’ve ever experienced and I never want it to end. I have to make Shelby realize that we belong together as a family. I don’t want any part of the “every other weekend dad,” thing. I want to be with Shelby and Liam, every day for the rest of our lives.

***

      Once Shelby was out of recovery and placed in a room, the nurse wheeled Liam there, in his bassinet, with me following
along beside them.
There’s no way I’m letting him out of my sight.
When we walk into Shelby’s room, we find all of her family surrounding her bed. Her dad immediately comes over and shakes my hand.

      “It’s good to see you son.” He says and then he catches a glimpse of Liam, and I am soon forgotten. Jace and Hollis have a similar reaction, brief handshakes and then it’s all Liam. Hailey pushes her way through all of the testosterone gathered around and she scoops him up and snuggles him into her arms before any of them realize what she’s doing.

      “Hey, I was about to hold him,” Greyson complains with a scowl on his face. Hailey doesn’t seem intimidated by his surly manner at all.

      “Too bad. What happened to ladies first? Mr. Tyler, I think you need to give Grey a lesson on manners. He seems to have forgotten how to be a gentleman.” She sticks her tongue out at him and then she lowers her face to Liam’s soft head.

      “Greyson, I taught you better than that.” Mr. Tyler admonishes him and that’s the end of that conversation.  I inwardly smile as I think about how this giant mixed martial arts fighter still listens to his father. I hope Liam will have a similar respect for me when he’s an adult.

     While everyone else is preoccupied with my little guy and who’s going to hold him next, I sit down in a chair at Shelby’s bedside. I take her graceful hand in mine and raise it to my lips, holding it there for a moment. I gently caress her hair and enjoy how soft it feels sliding against my fingers.

      “I’m so proud of you, Shelby. You did it. Our son is here and he’s perfect.” I keep slowly stroking her hair back from her forehead and it’s only another minute or two before she begins to stir. Her eyelids slowly raise only to close again. This happens a couple more times before they remain open and locked on me. A look of panic washes over her face and before she can even form the words, I’m already answering.

      “Liam is fine. He’s healthy and strong.” She closes her eyes for a moment and exhales a large sigh of relief.

      “Where is he?” She asks in a husky voice as her eyes dart around the room. Her brothers make an impressive wall as they all surround Hailey completely obstructing any view of Liam, in her arms.

      “Hailey, can you bring Liam over here, please? His mother would like to see him.” Once Shelby’s family hears she’s awake they all turn around and a chorus of “Seashell,” echoes throughout the room. Hailey shushes them all as she brings Liam over to Shelby and places him in her arms. Shelby’s eyes immediately go to his little face as the rest of him is covered up in the blanket he’s bundled in. The nurses have him wrapped up tight like a little burrito. I’ve never seen anything more beautiful than the sight of him in Shelby’s arms. She’s a natural. She raises her eyes up to meet mine and they’re shimmering with tears.

      “He’s so beautiful, Garrett. He’s absolutely perfect.” I move to sit on the bed beside her and we lovingly watch our son as he sleeps peacefully in his mother’s arms. I lean over and kiss Shelby on the top of her head before placing my arm around her back so that at this moment, we can be with Liam, together like a family.

***

      Jeff arrives around ten o’clock that night and he looks a little worse for the wear. I can only imagine what his flight must have been like. He was out of touch for a few hours while he was at the airport and also in the air so he wouldn’t have gotten the message that Shelby and Liam are fine until he’d landed. His clothes look rumpled and his hair’s sticking out in places as if he’s been pulling on it.

      Shelby finally drifted off about an hour ago, after putting up a good front for all of her family and friends. I knew she must be exhausted and in some serious pain. Liam’s in the bassinet sleeping peacefully after being passed around from one set of arms to the next. He ate up all the attention from Shelby’s brothers and her father. Cory arrived after he got done at the office and he and Hailey were oohing and aahing every time he moved. It’s so funny to watch how grown adults make themselves look like fools for a newborn baby, myself included. I was making all kinds of exaggerated and silly faces at our little guy as he looked up at me with his big eyes. He seems so aware for a newborn. I don’t remember my niece being like this, but in all honesty, I wasn’t paying as much attention since she wasn’t mine.

      As Jeff walks over toward where I’m seated beside the bed, I stand up and hold out my hand for him to shake. Now is not the time to fight or let any of our lingering history or bitterness get in the way of being civil. He must be sharing the same sentiment because he takes my hand firmly in his and pumps it up and down.

      “How are they?” He asks, the concern evident in his tone.

      “They’re both doing well. Shelby is expected to recover fully. She’s going to be sore for the next four to six weeks from the emergency C-section she had, but other than that she’s fine. Liam is perfect. He came through all this like a little champ.” Jeff steps closer to the bassinet and leans in for a closer look. The lighting in the room is dimmed so they can both sleep so I know he’s not getting to see Liam very well. I pull out my phone and open up my flashlight app, shining it over toward the bassinet so Jeff can get a better look. He smiles at me and says thanks before he continues on with his close study of the baby.